Chargrilled Chiang Mai pork belly

Inspired by the Chiang Mai night markets, Luke Nguyen creates a recipe for chargrilled pork belly that uses coriander root, coriander seeds and ginger to flavour the meat, and tamarind water to make a delicious dipping sauce.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• ¼ cup baby garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 4 coriander roots, scraped, chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 400 g pork belly, finely sliced
• ½ tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 60 ml (¼ cup) oyster sauce
• ½ tsp pepper

Tamarind dipping sauce

• 125 ml (½ cup) tamarind water
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp pounded galangal
• ½ tsp pounded garlic
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp sliced coriander

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

To prepare the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, coriander root and coriander seeds to a fine paste. Place the pork belly in a large bowl. Add the paste, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and pepper. Mix well. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinate (or overnight, if possible).

Bring a barbecue or chargrill to medium-high heat. Grill the pork belly for 8-10 minutes each side.

Chop the belly into 2 cm-thick pieces. Serve with the tamarind dipping sauce.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.